Neverland
Neverland Ruler: Peter Pan Status: Unknown First Mention: The Crocodile First Appearance: Second Star to the Right Latest Appearance: Going Home Last Mention: Murder Most Foul Neverland is a world featured on ABC's Once Upon a Time. It first appears in the twenty-first episode of Season 2. Neverland is based on the location of the same name from the story, "Peter Pan", and the Disney film, "Peter Pan". Plot 'Before First Curse' Arriving from the Enchanted Forest, Malcolm and his son Rumplestiltskin come to Neverland to start a new life together. Having visited this world in his childhood dreams, Malcolm excitedly attempts to magically fly as he did then, but he finds it's no longer possible without pixie dust. While procuring the dust from the flowers it grows from, he is warned by Neverland's only inhabitant, the Shadow, that adults cannot stay. Desperate to reclaim his youth by rejecting the responsibilities of adulthood, Malcolm allows the Shadow to return Rumplestiltkin to the Enchanted Forest so he can stay young forever. Reverting to a boy, Malcolm dubs himself as Peter Pan. After learning his immortality will eventually run its course, he vows to find a way around it. Years later, Liam and his brother, Killian travel to Neverland, on orders from their king to procure the healing plant Dreamshade. On arrival, they are told by Pan that the plant is actually poisonous. As Killian begins having doubts, Liam cuts himself with Dreamshade to prove it's harmless, but instead, he passes out from the toxin. Hearing Killian's cry for help, Pan allows him access to Neverland's healing spring, but he warns him never to let Liam leave the island after this unless either are willing to pay the price. Killian, believing Pan is referencing a money payment, doesn't understand what he truly means. After Liam is well again, the brothers sail away, intending to reveal the king's treachery about the plant. Once they are out of island's waters, however, Liam dies from Dreamshade poisoning, as the cure only works if he stayed in Neverland forever. Devastated by his death, Killian rallies the ship crewmen to give up their loyalties to the king and live as pirates instead. When Rumplestiltskin, now an adult, hears villagers gossiping about a pied piper who lures children with a magic pan flute, he is certain that his son Baelfire is one of these missing boys. While Rumplestiltskin forces his son to go home with him, Pan takes the rest to Neverland and they form his entourage of Lost Boys. Since harnessing the powers of the Dark one, Rumplestiltskin tracks down Killian, who stole his wife Milah years ago. Finding out Milah actually went willingly with Killian, he then gets into a heated dispute with his ex-wife. In a fit of rage, Rumplestiltskin tears out and crushes her heart, before cutting off Killian's hand to obtain a magic bean clutched in his fist. While the Dark One teleports away believing he has the bean, Killian actually switched it to his other hand. Using it, he opens a portal to Neverland. Taken to Neverland by the Shadow, Wendy soon finds out the realm is far more sinister, as the other children are forced to stay. Since the Shadow wants another boy, namely one of her brothers, she is sent home. Unwilling to let her family be split up, Baelfire goes instead. Carried over into Neverland's waters, he forces the Shadow to drop him into the ocean, where he falls unconscious before being pulled aboard Hook's ship. At some point before this, Pan comes to possess a parchment drawing of a boy, whose heart he needs to remain immortal. When the Shadow fails to bring Baelfire to the island, the Lost Boys search Hook's ship for him, but they do not find him. Hook, having hid Baelfire in an air vent, befriends him after discovering he is Rumplestiltskin's son as a means of finding out the Dark One's greatest weakness. Despite this, the pair bond over their shared experiences of being abandoned by their fathers, as Baelfire reveals Rumplestiltskin cares more about his dagger than him. This friendship ends when Baelfire discovers a drawing of his mother in Hook's quarters, to which the pirate admits getting close to him for information about Rumplestiltskin, who he hates for killing Milah. Hook pleads genuine affection for him, believing they can be a family like Milah wanted, but Baelfire leaves for Neverland, where he becomes a Lost Boy. Wendy, feeling guilty about Baelfire's sacrifice for her family, decides to rescue him from Neverland. Instead, she is held captive by Pan, who forces her brothers John and Michael to do his bidding to keep her safe. More determined than ever to kill Rumplestiltskin, Hook reaches Neverland, looking for magic to return to the Enchanted Forest. An ex-fairy, Tinkerbell, catches him unaware and interrogates him about why he came. When her guard is down, Hook offers her some rum, which she accepts. After he tells her about his vengeance against Rumplestiltskin, she points out he might die trying to fulfill his revenge. Having already lost love in his life, he asserts that risking his life for revenge is worth it. John and Michael age into adulthood while Wendy remains young in Neverland. At a certain point, Pan stops the brothers' aging process as they continue working for him. In a deal with Pan, Hook bargains his way out of Neverland. He takes some Dreamshade with him, planning on using it to poison Rumplestiltskin, and successfully returns to the Enchanted Forest. Some time before The Evil Queen enacts the curse, Pan locates the heart he needs to stay immortal in a boy from another realm. While the curse is in effect, John and Michael are sent to retrieve him, but the plan falls through when the boy's adoptive mother decides to keep him. 'After First Curse' Twenty-nine years later, after the curse is broken, Greg and Tamara take Henry, who possesses the heart Pan needs, to Neverland. With their usefulness expired, they are killed by the Lost Boys, before Henry is forced to run. Disguised as a Lost Boy, Pan gains Henry's trust in a bid to test his power of belief. Emma and her parents, along with Regina, Mr. Gold, and Hook, sail for Neverland to rescue Henry. Mr. Gold splits from them, believing Emma doesn't have what it takes, before the rest of the group are embroiled in a vicious storm conjured by their animosity for each other. By Emma's efforts, they learn to work together and reach the island. After detaching his own shadow and asking it to hide the dagger, Mr. Gold makes preparations to sacrifice himself to save Henry. During her first night on the island, Emma meets Pan, who gives her a map of Henry's location, which will only be revealed when she stops denying her true self. Try as she might, Emma cannot crack the map, causing an impatient Regina to use a locator spell so the map will take them to Henry. This leads them into a trap, where they are forced into battle against the Lost Boys. During the fight, David is hit by a Dreamshade arrow. Emma, after fending off a Lost Boy, is shocked when she recognizes his lifeless demeanor as something from her own past. In the aftermath, Emma admits to Mary Margaret that the boy reminded her of what she's always been since growing up in foster homes without an actual family; an orphan. With that confession, the map finally unveils its contents. Although he previously brushed off Mary Margaret's concerns about the arrow wound, David discovers that the poison from the injury is spreading. When the map continually changes the location of Pan's camp, Hook suggests consulting Tinkerbell for help. Hiding a bad history with the fairy, Regina insists it's a bad idea, though she is forced to go along once everyone sides against her. While the Lost Boys celebrate Henry's arrival, Pan attempts to persuade him into believing he is the savior of Neverland. Out of exhaustion, Regina stays behind as the rest of her group move on, resulting in Tinkerbell kidnapping her. Having lost everything because she once tried to help Regina, Tinkerbell wants revenge, but the latter convinces her not to go down the same path as she did. In exchange for Tinkerbell finding a way into Pan's camp, Regina and her allies agree to bring her to Storybrooke. Neal, hitching a ride to Neverland on the Shadow, is captured by Felix. Escaping from Felix's grasp, Neal runs into his father, who he teams up with to find squid ink for paralyzing Pan. Despite forming a plan to infiltrate Pan's camp, Tinkerbell backs out when she learns her new allies do not have an escape route. Recalling that Neal once fled Neverland as a boy, Hook takes them to an old Lost Boy cave to find clues while David continues to hide his injury from his family. At the cave, Emma discovers two halves of a coconut, with a candle inside, that depict a star map. However, upon discovering only Neal can read it, Emma breaks down emotionally over his death. Putting the Lost Boys to sleep, Mr. Gold distracts Pan as Neal immobilizes him with a squid ink tipped arrow. They prepare to leave with a sleeping Henry when Pan tells Neal about the prophecy Mr. Gold wanted to prevent by killing the boy. Once Neal gets the full story from his father, he loses trust in Mr. Gold, believing he will revert to his old ways. After paralyzing Mr. Gold, he leaves with Henry, before the Lost Boys take him hostage and regain the boy. Drawing from a memento Neal left behind in the cave, the group realize Pan wants Henry to lose hope that they are coming to rescue him. With a plan in mind, Mary Margaret goes to show them her idea of making a net to capture a Lost Boy so they can send Henry a message. As Emma turns to follow, Hook sympathizes with her over losing hope, but she brushes him off. While everyone else is making the net, David gets into a fight with Hook, in which he collapses from the Dreamshade poison. Knowing of a cure on Dead Man's Peak, Hook lies about a star map sextant at the location in order to motivate David into going there with him. The women capture Devin, who refuses to cooperate until Regina manipulates him with his heart. Given a compact mirror half, Devin hands it to Henry, who uses it to briefly to communicate with his family. Pan offers Hook a chance to work for him again if he kills David, but the pirate hesitates in answering just as his companion climbs up. Having overheard everything, David turns the tables on Hook at the peak, but after losing consciousness, he accepts the cure at the cost of his own freedom. Reuniting with their allies, the men make up a story about Pan getting the sextant first. Hook has a flirtatious kiss with Emma, but he reaches a dilemma when Pan reveals to him that Neal is alive. Hook tells David and Mary Margaret about Neal, and though the trio agree to look for him in secret, they are forced to admit the truth to a suspicious Emma. Regina, adamant this is another trick from Pan, leaves the group. Joining Mr. Gold, Regina gains help from Ariel, who fetches a box from Storybrooke so they can trap Pan. On a mission to rescue Neal, the group venture into the Echo Caves, where each of them must reveal a secret about themselves. Hook confesses he loves Emma, Mary Margaret admits she longs for another child, and David reveals he can never leave the island since taking the Dreamshade cure. With each truth, a portion of a bridge forms, allowing Emma to reach Neal, but he cannot be freed until she says her secret. Emma tells him that she had hoped he wasn't alive since this forces her to confront all the pain and turmoil of their relationship. As a way off the island, Neal plans to capture Pan's shadow into the star map. He learns about Hook's kiss with Emma, which ignites jealousy and competition. The trio travel to Dark Hollow, where Neal and Hook are assaulted by other shadows, before Emma uses magic to seal Pan's shadow into the coconut halves. Still angry with David over his lie, Mary Margaret treats him coldly until he admits lying because he didn't want to force her to stay with him. She, however, attests she'd stay with him even if they can never leave Neverland. When Emma, Hook, and Neal meet up with them, Tinkerbell rejoins their team after they gain Pan's Shadow. Convincing Henry that only he can stop Neverland from losing all its magic, Pan takes him to Skull Rock, intending to trick him into giving up his heart. Mr. Gold and Regina find the others again, but a distrustful Neal forces his father to hand over Pandora's Box. Emma searches for a way to help David leave Neverland, to which Mr. Gold agrees to make a Dreamshade cure once they return to Storybrooke. He almost asks for something in return, but Neal pressures him into helping for the right reasons rather than for self-interest. The group storm the Lost Boy camp, but Henry and Pan are not found. Neal frees Wendy and she reveals the truth about why Pan needs Henry's heart. At Skull Rock, only Mr. Gold is able to pass through a barrier that Pan enacted, as he no longer has his shadow. Pan, using the power of belief, gains the real Pandora's Box and traps him inside. After Henry takes out his own heart, his family attempt to warn him about Pan's true nature. Instead, Henry chooses to believe Pan, who insists they are lying to keep him from fulfilling his duty. The boy then plunges the heart into Pan's chest, and as he dies, the latter acquires immortality once more. Inhabitants *Baelfire *Devin *Felix *Hook *Mermaid *Peter Pan *Tinkerbell *William Smee *Wendy Darling Trivia On Screen Notes= *Neverland is featured in the title card for "And Straight On 'Til Morning". *Specifically, Neverland can be reached by flying with the Shadow and sailing with Pegasus. Also, every other way that can be used in a magical location is possible due to the location being a magical world. *Pan's map lists the following Neverland locations: Indian Village, Crab Sound, Bowline Point, Minaty Bay, Pirate's Cove, Pan's Secret Hideout, Skull Rock, Mermaid's Lagoon, Wight Isle ("Wight Is."), and Spire Islands. Minaty Bay is populated locality north of Vancouver, where some of the Neverland scenes were filmed. The Isle of Wight is the largest island in England. A theme park known as Peter Pan's Funfair & Amusements is located on the island in the seaside town Ryde. *Early in time, it was permanently daylight in Neverland, like during Liam and Hook's visit or Malcolm and Rumplestiltskin's. Baelfire first gets in Neverland at night, but it is daylight when Hook talks to him on the deck of the Jolly Roger. When he is surrendered to the Lost Boys, it is once more dark and it was never daylight again. |-|Other Notes= FILMING LOCATIONS *Most of the Neverland scenes were shot on a single set inside a sound stage that was constantly re-dressed to represent up to 12 different tropical locales, including the camps of Peter Pan, Mr. Gold, and Emma's group. The set was expensive, and took a month to construct. The plants and props were moved around to create new surroundings. Almost 70 percent of the plants were real. There were two hundred real plants that had to be watered and pruned every day and heated at night, thirty actual tree stumps, and 450 fake branches to which silk leaves were added. The Neverland set was inspired by Disney's animated Peter Pan movie and the Ewok village from Star Wars: Return of the Jedi. The scenes by Pan's Thinking Tree in "Save Henry" were also filmed inside a studio. *Some scenes were filmed on location. Some scenes were filmed in Minaty Bay (which appears on Pan's map of Neverland), a populated locality north of Vancouver. Other scenes were filmed in the Vancouver forest. The flashback scene where the Lost Boys take Baelfire to shore in "And Straight On 'Til Morning", was filmed at the beach in Garry Point Park, a large 75 acres waterfront park, located close to Steveston Village. Britannia Beach, a small community located approximately 55 kilometers north of Vancouver, doubles as Neverland for the beach scene with Hook, Liam, and Peter Pan in "Good Form". Belcarra Regional Park in the Metro Vancouver area doubles as Neverland for at least one scene in "Nasty Habits".